Voices Heard, Changes Made

In Episode 4 of Season 6, IgniteCast hosts Taylor and Judd sit down with Kristen Long, Chief Nurse Executive at North Mississippi Medical Center, for a powerful and heartfelt conversation about leadership, burnout, and building resilient teams.

Kristen shares how relationship-building shapes every aspect of patient care, why listening is a leader’s most important tool, and what it really took to guide frontline nurses through one of the toughest seasons in modern healthcare. From navigating the height of COVID-19 to creating a culture where humor, trust, and purpose still thrive, Kristen offers honest insight every leader can learn from.

She also discusses her own leadership journey, the mentors who helped shape her, and how she now identifies and develops future leaders within the hospital system. Whether you're in healthcare or simply leading people through hard seasons, this episode is full of practical wisdom, encouragement, and heart.

Tune in and be inspired to lead with compassion, clarity, and courage.

🎧 New episodes drop every other Thursday, packed with insight, inspiration, and actionable ideas to help you grow as a leader—right where you are.

Want to learn more about the Ignite Leadership Conference?
Visit 👉 www.igniteleadership.com

Transcript

Taylor Tutor: [00:00:00] Hey, Judd. 

Judd Wilson: Hey Taylor. 

Taylor Tutor: Do you know what's coming up? 

Judd Wilson: When? 

Taylor Tutor: On Thursday, January the 29th. 

Judd Wilson: The Ignite Leadership Conference. 

Taylor Tutor: That's right, Judd. And where is it? 

Judd Wilson: The Orchard. 

Taylor Tutor: That's right. Again. One more. Do you know where to get tickets? 

Judd Wilson: Ignite leadership.com. 

Taylor Tutor: And you're right. Again, for more information on Ignite, you can follow us on social media.

Judd Wilson: Look forward to seeing everybody at Ignite Ignite.

Taylor Tutor: Welcome to Ignite Where Ideas Spark action brought to. You by the Community Development Foundation, your Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Engine for Tupelo and Lee County, thank you to our presenting sponsor, [00:01:00] iHeartMedia for powering this season of Ignite Cast. I'm Taylor. I'm Judd, and welcome.

Taylor Tutor: Welcome to Ignite Cast.

Judd Wilson: Taylor, we're here for another at Nightcast. I just love at Nightcast. You know why I love Nightcast? 

Taylor Tutor: Tell me Judd. 

Judd Wilson: Well, I'll tell you why. I really like season six of at Nightcast. You know why I love season six? Why? This is the season that takes us right in to at night. 

Taylor Tutor: Woo woo. At night is January the 29th at the Orchard.

Taylor Tutor: It's not too late to get your tickets, but you did miss the early bird sale. Shame on you. But you can still get tickets and you should get them today. 'cause it's gonna be the best one yet. 

Judd Wilson: It is. We say that every year. We're always right. 

Taylor Tutor: I believe it this year. 

Judd Wilson: I do too. You know what else I love about season six?

Taylor Tutor: Tell me. 

Judd Wilson: Our guest and look what we have. Kristen Long, chief Nurse Executive, welcome to at Nightcast. Kristen. [00:02:00] 

Kristen Long: Thank you guys. I'm so happy to be here celebrating our Ignite coming up. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. You're no stranger to at night. You've been several times, haven't 

Kristen Long: you? I have. I don't think I've missed one yet. Look at 

Judd Wilson: that.

Kristen Long: Wow. You're doing better than me. Yeah. I, I shoulda looked at her 

Judd Wilson: at night Punch card and I would've seen that all of them had been punched. 

Taylor Tutor: Well, I have to ask, what makes you come back each year? Why do you come every year? 

Kristen Long: I think it's a couple of things. It's the energetic speakers. Oh yeah. It's all the great, you know, um, content that we have and just getting to see all the different leaders and people from around our community making such a difference every day.

Kristen Long: It's just a great time. 

Taylor Tutor: I agree. 

Judd Wilson: Do you like that? 

Taylor Tutor: One of the first We did not, we did not pay her to say that. 

Judd Wilson: You like one of those hosts? 

Kristen Long: I mean, one of the hosts are Okay. 

Taylor Tutor: Those hosts, they're all right. I guess those, they're okay. 

Judd Wilson: They're okay. They're okay. 

Taylor Tutor: Well, Kristen, I wanna, I wanna continue, I guess with more questions, but tell us what the best leadership tip is you've ever been given.

Kristen Long: Wow. That's a hard one because I've had some great mentors and leaders, but I think [00:03:00] really the best tip is get to know the people you're working with. Mm-hmm. That's good. So much of what we do as leaders, it's really based on building relationships with. People and how you support them and how they can support you in the work you're doing.

Kristen Long: Mm-hmm. 

Judd Wilson: It is a building a relationship. So important, isn't it? It is. It really is. As leader and in your field, relationships are so important as well, aren't they? 

Kristen Long: They are not just the relationship between a nurse and the patient, but a nurse and the family members of that patient. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. A nurse and their coworkers.

Kristen Long: Um, as a nursing leader, my relationship with my amazing partners, the other vice. Presidents and directors, and leaders from around our, our organization, each of those relationships helps build a better model for taking care of patients every day. Mm-hmm. 

Judd Wilson: Right. And that, and you mentioned about that relationship between the nurse and the patient.

Judd Wilson: But, but you were so right about the family. I, my mother-in-law was at, was at the hospital not long ago, and I, I remember walking in to visitor and, and the nurse said, oh, is this [00:04:00] the son-in-law? I'm like, okay, wait a minute. What do you mean by that? Is that it was like good or 

Kristen Long: bad, right? Yeah. But it was kind of neat 

Judd Wilson: because, I mean, they already knew who we were before we walk, so we already felt.

Judd Wilson: The connection with them. 

Kristen Long: That's right. So, so much of what we do in nursing is not just taking care of the health aspects, but as a person who they are. And that's really important to us in our organization, is not just taking care of, you know, what's wrong with you, but who you are as a person. Yeah. And you have to build relationships to be able to do that.

Kristen Long: Yeah. 

Taylor Tutor: Mm-hmm. I think relationships is what keeps people coming back. Even in small businesses, no matter what the business is, if I come in and you remember my name or what was wrong with me, or what my order was. If I'm broke, I'm coming back because I want to support them. Um, lost and Found is a good one that does that.

Taylor Tutor: They know my name and my order. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but they do. Um, but that's, that's really good. It might be '

Judd Wilson: cause you go there so lot, so much. 

Taylor Tutor: No, of course not. They're just really good with names, [00:05:00] but. Uh, to continue, um, on that with, you know, nursing and building with your building relationships with the people you work with.

Taylor Tutor: Nursing is just such a purpose driven job. Um, or career, I guess you would say. All the women in my family, except me, are in the medical field, mainly nurses, and you have to love the job to continue doing it every day. So how do you keep your teams motivated and. Connected to their why, especially during tough seasons.

Kristen Long: Yeah, we, you know, we've experienced tough seasons throughout the years. Um, and I will say nursing is the most trusted profession, you know, like 40 years in a row. Um, I did hear this fun fact last week though, except for, um, the year of nine 11. And firefighters beat us out for most trusted profession as.

Kristen Long: They should have. Oh, yeah. Um, but, you know, nursing being the most trusted profession, you know, you have to really think about the hard times that they have along with the good. It's a calling, right? I think most [00:06:00] of us that got into nursing, it's all because we want to help people. We want to touch a life, we want to help shape lives.

Kristen Long: Um, so how do we keep them motivated in those tough times to keep doing that? I think for me it's really listening to 'em. Um, just being an authentic leader, going out, having some fun with 'em, talking with 'em, hearing what's not going well, what is going well, and then structuring what we do as leaders around trying to make that environment better for them.

Judd Wilson: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Let me ask you this, um, you know, all teams experience, I mean, Taylor kind of mentioned it, how do you keep 'em motivated to remember their why? And we, we talk about tough seasons. I mean, you're a nurse. Uh, really when we think of tough seasons. We think of COVID. Yeah. Um, and, and, and really how companies deal with burnout.

Judd Wilson: I, I would think during that time, y'all really had to be very. Specific on, Hey, what do we do to prevent burnout during this stressful time? What are some tools that y'all used to [00:07:00] do that? 

Kristen Long: Yeah, that's a great question. COVID impacted everyone's life, right? I mean, every single person I know was impacted by COVID, but our nursing staff, they were, they were very impacted by it because they were living it every day.

Kristen Long: Even with all of the. You know, um, things going on in the public and political parties and things like that. The nurses were there every day that nursing staff were living it. And so really, I think what we had to do, nobody knew what to do. We were in new territory, right? Mm-hmm. We were all learning together.

Kristen Long: And so I think it was really spending time with them trying to understand what they were going through, understanding, you know, I remember one time we, we tried to have some of our amazing accounts. Go up and just be on our COVID units there and ready to talk if they needed it. And a lot of 'em didn't take us up on that because at the time they were living it.

Kristen Long: Mm-hmm. And I think it was really after the fact that we could reflect and sit and think about. Um, I will tell you, some of the things that I remember really stick out to me were our community. And the support that they offered [00:08:00] our nursing staff, I mean, goodies were sent. We had the firefighters and policemen, um, line in the walkway cheering for our nursing staff when they were coming in and off shift.

Kristen Long: You know, it was things like that to help them remember. Yes, it's hard, but you're loved, you're cared about, and we appreciate what you're given back to your community, community and your patients. So. 

Taylor Tutor: I don't know if it was like that everywhere, but I'd like to believe that Tupelo just has that Tulo spirit.

Kristen Long: Well, I 100% believe that and, and I can't, I just remember thinking it, it was almost every day, every week, someone from the community there was a church or an organization or our CDF. I mean, there were so much support from our community and I thought, this is why, this is why I'm here. This is why I love working here.

Kristen Long: I love serving this community, and, and I think that that was really felt from the staff as well. 

Judd Wilson: That's great. That's great. 

Kristen Long: Kristen, have you always been here in Tupelo? Yes, I have. I started as a nurse on the floor around 20 years ago, nearly 20 years ago. And, um, never wanted to [00:09:00] be in leadership. That's usually how it works.

Kristen Long: I just wanted to take care of people and, um, and so you got voluntold for your first leadership job and then you learned how to become a leader and so Yep. This is my home. 

Taylor Tutor: That's awesome. I love to hear that. I think sometimes those, those types of stories make the best leaders 'cause they don't. Uh, this may sound bad, but they don't feel like they deserve to be the leader.

Taylor Tutor: Yeah. You know, and those are the most humble and they know how to lead a team because they've been in their team's shoes Yeah. Before. So that always makes a difference. For sure. 

Judd Wilson: And I remember when you got into your role, your r now and, and saw the press releases that I knew Kristen back then, you know, so that's exciting.

Judd Wilson: But through that journey, I mean, you said you were voluntold for that. For that first one, but when you moved up in leadership, tell us maybe about some of the mentors that you leaned on, uh, during that time and kind of what you. Learn from them to kind of help prepare you as a leader now? 

Kristen Long: Absolutely. Um, so the first vice president I had that really pushed me into leadership, I was young, I was still a very young nurse, [00:10:00] and, um, he was, she's still a young nurse by the way.

Kristen Long: Right? Thank you. You my favorite host from McKnight. There you go.

Kristen Long: So he was military, old Navy, um, guy, and he was very direct and to the point mm-hmm. Surgical background and all the things. But he pushed me, um, to not be so shy and to really think outside the box on how to solve problems. And I think if it wasn't for him, I don't know that I would've ever had the confidence myself.

Kristen Long: I think so much of, um, helping mentor new leaders is helping them understand you have the ability, we just gotta help you get the confidence to get there. Mm-hmm. 

Judd Wilson: And you probably still lean on that even today. What you learned back then, right? 

Kristen Long: Absolutely. Um, every day there's, there's situations that that come up that I'm like, you know, when as an early leader, I probably would've handled that much different, but through the years and the different mentors, um, have taught me patience and how to stop and reflect before I react.

Kristen Long: Mm-hmm. And a lot of things that come [00:11:00] in handy, even in healthcare where it does seem so fast-paced and every decision we make is life or death. Um, but I think it's important to trust your gut. And follow it and making your decisions. 

Judd Wilson: Let me ask you this, 'cause I'm always, always kind of wondered this, when people, you know, move up through leadership and you talk about, Hey, yeah, I started this many years ago.

Judd Wilson: It's just. Somebody on the floor. When you look out today, do you see, okay, that one has potential or this one? Mm-hmm. What does that feel like when you see that and 

Kristen Long: Yeah. It feels like I'm getting old. No, but you know, I think when I see people, a couple of things, you, you see people that naturally have leadership ability.

Kristen Long: Uh, growing up I never would. Thought I would've been a leader. I didn't realize it until I was voted by the teachers in my high school most leadership ability, and I was like, what? I really wanted to be weediest. I'm so disappointed, you know? Damn. I did get that, by the way, Kristin, I'm shocked. I'm very shocked right now.

Taylor Tutor: I got campus chatterbox. I'm not [00:12:00] very surprised by that. Yeah. 

Kristen Long: But I think when I look out at our teams now, a lot of what we do in leadership, it's about growing leaders and helping give them, you know, those, those, um, opportunities, right? Mm-hmm. So much of about, of it is about having the opportunity. Um, to put yourself out there and to lead a project or lead.

Kristen Long: So I'll, I'll take some new leaders that maybe have never led one. I'm like, here you go guys. Just give it a go and if you fail, it's okay. We'll fail fast and we'll move on. And so I think it's just really about giving 'em that opportunity to shine and to figure out for themselves that they're leaders.

Kristen Long: Mm-hmm. 

Judd Wilson: Right. And, and like you said, Hey, if we fail in this, that's fine. I mean, giving them the, uh, the privilege to say, Hey, I made a mistake here, but let's see how we can fix it the next time. I think is very important as well. Exactly. 

Taylor Tutor: Mm-hmm. Uh, we like to do this on every podcast, um, not, or every episode.

Taylor Tutor: And that's play a clip from a past night. And in 2020 we had, um, drew Tarn. Is that right? 

Judd Wilson: You got it right. Look at that. [00:13:00] 

Taylor Tutor: I missed that one. I'm such a loser. Um, but we'd like to play a clip from him, um, and, and see how that kind of relates to you and your field today. 

Drew Tarvin: And a lot of times people have this misperception, they assume that they can't use humor because they go into the workplace and they don't see it.

Drew Tarvin: Right. They see an older culture where it's like everyone feels like work has to feel like work, right? But the reality is that people want it. 98% of CEOs prefer job cadence with the sense of humor. And 81% of employees say a fun workplace would make them more productive. People use humor at work. They see, uh, and improve, uh, productivity.

Drew Tarvin: They reduce stress prevents burnout. It provides motivation at increasing the acceptance of ideas. It triggers new connections, enhances problem solving skills. And it's all backed by research, case studies, and real world examples, right? It didn't make it up. 

Taylor Tutor: So I know in healthcare it can be. A little different depending on the field.

Taylor Tutor: If I, you know, if I came in and I just received tragic news and y'all are in there cutting up, I'm gonna be a little upset about it. But how do y'all, um, in, in your [00:14:00] field, you know, use that to, to make the environment better to work in? Because I'm all about a fun environment too. I think it does. Make going to work a lot better.

Kristen Long: Yes, I agree. You know, it is a fine line. You're right. Um, because so much of our work is very serious. Like I said, it's life or death and um, and you're right, families don't wanna hear you in there cutting up in the break room and they're receiving terrible news. And so it is a fine line, but I absolutely believe that there is a place for humor.

Kristen Long: In our workplace. And I do think it makes it better. Um, I love to go on the floor and joke with people. I know it is a fine line Also, you don't wanna be called the hr, right? And so you gotta, you know, gotta make sure we're, we're keeping it where, between the lines. But I will say, um, I love to have fun with the staff.

Kristen Long: I love to hear them joking. Um, some of our directors of nursing are some of the funniest people I've ever met. Mm-hmm. And so, um, I think it is really important because. What I've told my staff before, they, most of our staff work 12 hour shifts and they spend as much time at work as they do with their families.

Kristen Long: And [00:15:00] so we've gotta create a place that they love to come. Mm-hmm. That they want to come and have fun. And, um, you know, finding joy in the workplace is such an important aspect, um, because it. Recruits people and it retains people. And just today we were visiting with a school of nursing and that was one of the questions I asked, do your students have fun when they come here for clinicals?

Kristen Long: Because that's important to us. We want 'em to learn, but you're gonna learn better in an environment. That's fun. 

Judd Wilson: Laughter is the what? Best medicine. Best medicine. That's what I've heard. 

Kristen Long: Yes. 

Judd Wilson: That's what I've heard. And I've been to, to when y'all have had events, uh, 'cause I actually helped Dr. Blanchard one time with this.

Judd Wilson: And I mean, when y'all meet as a team, sometimes y'all have fun and, and it almost gets competitive. It was like a lip sync thing 

Kristen Long: Oh yeah. That I helped 

Judd Wilson: Dr. Plant with. Absolutely. But we still talk about that to this day. But I think it is good to kind of build that environment to do that. 

Kristen Long: Yeah. I will say nursing staff, um, a couple of things about 'em.

Kristen Long: They're hilarious. And they like to have a lot of fun [00:16:00] and they're very competitive. And so all things true. Yes. 

Judd Wilson: And it's, it's, I've, I've gone to a couple of the clinics too, and, you know, around Halloween, everybody's dressed up. Yeah. I mean, you know. Mm-hmm. It, it kind of builds to that environment and we talked about it earlier.

Judd Wilson: I, I mean, it helps with, with burnout and I, I mentioned COVID and you mentioned, you know, the firefighters lining up and clapping, but you gotta be aware of that. All the time, don't you? Mm-hmm. 

Kristen Long: We do. And you know, a couple of things that we've done, um, I think it's really important that we hear our staff, you know, so much of us creating a fun workplace mm-hmm.

Kristen Long: Or a workplace that people wanna stay is having leaders that listen. And, um, so we do a lot of things around that. Um, we do surveys and things like that, um, but we also go out and we ask. The magic wand question. You know, if you had a magic wand and you could change something to make it better for patients or staff, what is it?

Kristen Long: And really that's about just opening up the floor to them to say, here's how I think we need to do it. I think it could be better. Um, but really just hearing their voice and making changes around [00:17:00] that. Um, giving them that opportunity to let us hear them. And it's very special and we've made a lot of big changes based on that.

Judd Wilson: So their voices are heard and then changes are made from That's right. Which is great. 

Taylor Tutor: Yeah. 

Judd Wilson: Isn't that neat? 

Taylor Tutor: Sounds like a good, uh, episode title. It does. 

Judd Wilson: It does. And I, I actually had the privilege, I guess a couple years ago I was on the, is it P fac? That's right. Is that right? Yes. It's where they actually hear from, uh, the patient side of things.

Judd Wilson: That's right. And, and community leaders and. They would tour us around in an area and we would give feedback. Yep. And they would, you know, didn't 

Kristen Long: news Judd? Yes. You know, that kind of went away. It did COVID. It did. Guess what's coming back? It's 

Judd Wilson: coming back. 

Kristen Long: It's coming back. And we are starting our pfas back up, not just here at Tupelo, but our community hospitals too.

Kristen Long: Um, and so if you're interested I'll get you an application. 

Judd Wilson: I've already been vetted. Good. I've already been vetted. 

Kristen Long: He meets criteria. That's funny. Uh, 

Judd Wilson: shameless plug here, uh, because I think it kind of goes on leadership. 'cause [00:18:00] we've, we've had different guests on here and some of those guests have gone through the jiming or Community Leadership Institute.

Judd Wilson: Tell us a little bit about going through a program like that and, and how that helped you as a leader. 

Kristen Long: Absolutely. So, um, it was amazing. It was just a great program and I really didn't know what to expect coming in. What I didn't expect was to make. Um, some connections that even this long afterwards, this many years afterwards, I still see 'em out in the public or if I need something.

Kristen Long: So I think it was the tools that were given, the sessions that we were able to attend, but as much as anything else, it was the relationships that we were able to build with each other. Um, that we now have contacts throughout the community that we can lean on. If I need an expert in, you know, realty, I know someone to call.

Kristen Long: Or if I need someone in the banking world, I know someone to call. And I would never have had that before because I'm healthcare centered, right? That's my whole world. And so really making those connections and then learning the history of just our economics and our, you know, our community, it was [00:19:00] just absolutely phenomenal.

Judd Wilson: Well, it's neat too, 'cause we hear this a lot that, I mean, you are in your silo of healthcare. Yep. And now you go through that program and have people you can turn to and we know that that's gonna help build the community because it's not gonna build, be built in one silo. 

Kristen Long: That's right. 

Judd Wilson: And you have those connections to kind of.

Judd Wilson: Build that foundation for a better community in the future. Absolutely. So that was a shameless plug, wasn't it, Taylor? 

Taylor Tutor: It was, but it was good. You did it with such. 

Kristen Long: You did it with such grace. Thank you. 

Taylor Tutor: As he does all. Well, Kristen, it was so great having you on today, and thank you for sharing your wisdom with us and about burnout.

Taylor Tutor: Thing, and we look forward to continuing our conversation with you. Absolutely. Thank you much. Can't wait to see you 

Kristen Long: guys at Ignite. Yeah. Woo hoo.

Taylor Tutor: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ignite Cast, presented by iHeartMedia. For more [00:20:00] leadership insights and engaging conversations, be sure to hit subscribe. And if you enjoy today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a review and remember, go forward and. Do good things.